AR 2018/President Statement: Difference between revisions

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==President Statement==
==President Statement==
[['''President's Message''']]


Message by the President of the Board
2018 has been a successful year for [[Future Worlds Center]], implementing more than ten projects in collaboration with its ever-growing [[List of partner organizations|network of partners]]. Its three units [[Futures Design Unit]], [[New Media Lab]] and [[Global Education Unit]] continue to run a fare share of competitive of global, EU and national projects (co)funded by the United Nations, European Commission and the Research Promotion Foundation.  
Mr. [[Larry Fergeson]].


Year 2017 has been a year of important decisions for reforms and transformations.
More specifically:
 
First, the Board has been internationalized, and no Associate is now also member of the Board. The decision for complete separation between strategic direction and day-to-day management and project implementation is thought to serve multiple purposes and especially (i) compliance of organizational priorities with the core values and visions, and (ii) improved possibilities for taking measures to ensure long-term sustainability.
 
Second, it has been decided that projects and/or clusters of projects that meet two criteria, i.e., (i) they become (or have the potential to become) financially stable and self-sufficient, and (ii) they evolve more into 'stable' operations, i.e, less entrepreneurial and more service-oriented, should spin off and become new entities. Therefore three entities entered this process:
* [[Cyberethics: Cyprus Safer Internet Center| Cyberethics related projects]]: The Trade name '''CCS Cyberethics Cyprus Safer Internet Center''' has been registered with the intention of becoming a for-profit operation offering innovative educational courses and other experiential workshops bringing new technologies in more productive ways in the lives of growing kids.
* All [[Mental Attributes Profiling System]] related research activities were transferred in a new startup company called [[GNOUS Labs Ltd.]] with the aim of commercializing the IPR.
* The [[Humanitarian Affairs Unit]] became a fully independent CSO with the name [[Cyprus Refugee Council]].
 
An important milestone reached at the end of 2018 was that the number of SDDPs co-organized by [[Future Worlds Center]] reached 100!
 
Within 2018, [[Future Worlds Center]] has been successfully implementing >10 projects in collaboration with its ever-growing [[List of partner organizations|network of partners]]. It was also a year of more audits. The Financial Unit has been continuously overloaded with such work. All audits have been successful resulting in virtually no ineligible amounts for [[Future Worlds Center]]. Some expenses of partners were found ineligible amounting to a few dozen thousands, which highlights how the EC funding, sometimes 'kills' organizations. This is why we at [[Future Worlds Center]] in line with our [[Future Worlds Center Vision and Mission|Vision and Mission]], decided to actively search for additional alternative sources of funding. A few experimental projects have been launched, such as the teaching of computer programming and robotics to kids using the [[7pi3 Educational Method]].


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The [[Futures Design Unit]] has contributed many [[Structured Democratic Dialogue|SDDPs]] for the [[MARINA]] and the [[R&I PEERS]] projects. It has also completed the analysis for the Manifesto of the [[Reinventing Democracy in the Digital Era]] project.
The [[Futures Design Unit]] has contributed many [[Structured Democratic Dialogue|SDDPs]] for the [[MARINA]] and the [[R&I PEERS]] projects.  
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I invite you to read our Annual Report and come back to us with suggestions and ideas.  This short introduction could not cover all our projects, which are described in more detail in the following pages. We are proud to have you as a friend and affiliate and we look forward to strengthening our relations, communication and collaboration within our network and with new partners.




Furthermore, an important milestone reached at the end of 2018 was that the number of SDDs co-organized by [[Future Worlds Center]] reached '''100!'''


I invite you to read our Annual Report and come back to us with your reflections and ideas for possible future collaborations. We are thankful for the support of all our friends and network and remain inspired and enthusiastic in providing even a minor contribution towards the improvement and the strengthening of people and the society.


Yours faithfully,
[[Larry Fergeson]]
President of the Board




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[[Category:AR Sections]]
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